Hawthorn's $10 million Dingley boost

By Jake Niall

13 February 2018 — 11:30pm

A key benefactor is donating $10 million to Hawthorn to help the club fund the shift to its new Dingley headquarters.

In one of the most generous gifts in AFL history, former Hawthorn vice-president and Flight Centre co-founder Geoff Harris has committed a $10 million donation to the Dingley project for what the businessman calls ‘‘seeding capital’’ for the new project.

The $10 million is being paid over five years. Harris’ family has already donated $6 million, with payments of $2 million made in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Geoff Harris

Photo: Arsineh Houspian

The Hawks have to raise tens of millions for Dingley — club sources estimate the eventual cost will be $80-$100 million — in what shapes as arguably the competition’s most ambitious fund-raising program, as they plan to make the move from Waverley Park to the much more spacious Dingley training and administrative base.

Harris, who was an influential club vice-president and served on the board until his term ended after the 2013 premiership, told The Age that his family’s donation to the club was about providing the club with ‘‘seeding’’ funds to get the Dingley project off the ground.

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Harris, who has been a generous donor to Hawthorn for many years and has other philanthropic interests, said he remembered the struggles the Hawks endured at the time of the thwarted merger with Melbourne and also in 2004 when they were near the bottom of the ladder. ‘‘I never want to see that happen again.’’ Harris said it was important that Hawthorn would own the freehold at Dingley, in what was a point of difference between the Hawks and the other clubs that have leases on their facilities and training bases. ‘‘The key to this project is that Hawthorn Football Club own the freehold.

‘‘No other AFL club will have a freehold on their training base,’’ added Harris who, in addition to his philanthropic interests and Dingley donation, helped fund the immuno-therapy drug treatment that Jarryd Roughead had when the Hawthorn captain was diagnosed — and successfully treated — for melanoma.

The Harris donation to Hawthorn is specifically for Dingley, not for general operations, and is held in an account for that purpose alone. The gift was not made through the club’s foundation.‘‘The reason our family is involved is that this [is] seeding capital to get the Dingley project up and running,’’ said Harris, who sold most of his interest in Flight Centre (he holds 15 per cent of the company) and was an early investor in Boost Juice. Today, he has interests in an online auction business ‘‘Gavl’’ and a casual Mexican diner ‘‘Fonda’’, while his philanthropic activities include supporting ‘‘STREAT’’, an organisation aimed at helping at-risk and especially homeless youth. Harris provided STREAT with the use of a $2.5 million home in Collingwood for $5.

The location for the future home of the Hawks.

Photo: Eddie Jim

While Hawthorn are among the financially strongest clubs in the AFL, the club has had two external revenue streams — Tasmania and major poker machine operation — that cannot be counted on as permanent, given the debate about the AFL presence in Tasmania (where North Melbourne is also involved) and the AFL’s apparent wish to gradually phase out poker machines.The Dingley site is a massive 28 hectares and allows the club to expand in ways that are inconceivable at the far smaller Waverley Park, where the Hawks also have a freehold after moving there in a complicated deal involving developer Mirvac, the AFL and the state government.

Hawthorn have paid $7.75 million for the Dingley site, which is 23 kilometres from the city. The local (Kingston) council recommended that the club begin building in 2020 and complete the project by 2022.